Young Texans corners ready for matchup with Manning

Kiddie corners confidentNFL debut? Manning & Co.? The young Texans in the secondary say they can handle the pressure

DALE ROBERTSON, Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

Published 5:30 am, Friday, September 10, 2010

Photo: Brett Coomer, Chronicle

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First-round draft pick Kareem Jackson (25) was selected by the Texans to help the team find a way to thwart Peyton Manning and the Colts.

First-round draft pick Kareem Jackson (25) was selected by the Texans to help the team find a way to thwart Peyton Manning and the Colts.

Photo: Brett Coomer, Chronicle

Young Texans corners ready for matchup with Manning

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The size of the stage won't be an issue for rookie Texans cornerback Kareem Jackson.

The last time he played a football game that counted, there were 95,000 people in the stadium and college football's national title was at stake.

But the accomplished, decorated Alabama cornerback found himself in a dream matchup in the Rose Bowl, facing the thunderstruck Texas freshman quarterback, Garrett Gilbert, for most of the evening after Colt McCoy was injured on the Longhorns' first series. Now, it's a case of what goes around comes around for Jackson.

Jackson must make his regular-season debut Sunday against Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, the Canton-bound bane of the Texans' existence.

Is Jackson, the team's top draft pick this spring, up to the challenge? He was drafted as high as he was — 20th overall — to help the Texans find a way to thwart Manning and the Colts. Having experienced corners hasn't helped accomplish it.

"I think Kareem's ready," middle linebacker and defensive captain DeMeco Ryans said. "He's confident in his abilities. He's not going to get caught up in it being a big game. He's been there before. I don't need to tell him anything. I won't be looking over my shoulder, worrying. I don't see him getting rookie jitters. I'm comfortable with him.

"Besides, he comes from Bama (as does Ryans). I'm not doubting my guy."

Jackson's not doubting himself, either. To hear them talk, the young Texans cornerbacks don't seem the least bit insecure or nervous. They're quick to point out they have to deal with Matt Schaub's arm and Andre Johnson's everything in practice. But they're astute enough to understand practice and game conditions, especially the rapid-fire way Manning operates the Colts' offense, are different environments.

"The pace," Jackson said, "is going to speed up a whole lot. It's going to be fast out there. I see how smart he is, how precise his passes are. He's going to put the ball right where it needs to be the majority of the time. You got to know your assignments and put yourself in a position to make a play, and not get down on yourself if they make a play."

Quin wants a pick

Glover Quin, who has 12 of the 13 starts the Texans Kiddie Corners have, can tell Jackson how difficult that can be in the NFL. Although he proved as a rookie in 2009 that he has the makings of being a first-rate shut-down defender — he didn't surrender a touchdown and broke up 11 passes — he's looking for his first pro interception.

Quin would prefer that the first one "goes down" at Manning's expense. If it does, he said he told his wife, he might ask Manning to autograph the football.

Quin isn't ashamed to admit he looks up to Manning, who entered the NFL when Quin was 11. One of the highlights of his first Texans season was what Manning told him following the Nov. 29 loss at Reliant Stadium, which Quin left early because he was knocked loopy.

"After the game, (Manning) was like, 'I saw you weren't out there. You get dinged up?' " Quin said. "I said to my wife later, 'Babe, you know what, Peyton Manning noticed I wasn't on the field.' One day I'll be telling my little boy — we'll be watching his Hall of Fame speech — and I'll be able to say, 'Yeah, he was in our conference. We played him a whole bunch of times.' "

But the Texans haven't beaten him a whole bunch of times. They're 1-15 and Quin said that must change.

"Come Sunday, 12 o'clock, it's time to get after him," he said. "And, along about 3:30, it had better be, 'Good game Peyton Manning. But we got the win.' That's the plan."

The Kiddie Corners are confident, almost defiantly so. And coach Gary Kubiak has confidence in them. At this point he has no choice.

Youth movement

Kubiak opted to "go young" at the position, banking that experience elsewhere — both safeties, Bernard Pollard and Eugene Wilson, have been around the block a few times — will compensate.

"That's a decision we made as a team," Kubiak said of cutting Jacques Reeves and Fred Bennett, after deciding not to retain Dunta Robinson over the offseason. "They're facing the best in the game and that makes it tough, but we believe in those guys."

Quin said: "It's a good challenge for us, a good test to see where we're at. It's the best game we can have coming out of the gate: Peyton Manning, the Colts, division rival, the team that's standing in our way. It don't get no better than opening your season against the best quarterback in the NFL."